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The career threatening danger when an attorney misappropriates entrusted funds is on display in a recent recommendation for disbarment from the New Jersey Disciplinary Review Board.

The matter came to the Bar's attention as a result of two escrow account overdraft notices. The attorney responded that his account records "were a mess" and that he was depositing $10,000 into the account to cover shortfalls. The Bar investigator considered the deposit to be "red flag" and continued to probe, with predictable results.

The board rejected the attorney's suggestion that he was only temporarily embezzling and had replaced the missing funds as a basis to avoid the ultimate sanction. (Mike Frisch)